Forest Scene

Pulled up another photo from my warm weather plein air painting. Clouds are fleeting so it is better for me to practice from the photos. I hope I can keep the scene in my head long enough to paint a believable cloudscape plein air.

6" x 12" oil on canvas

Plein Air at the Orchard

This was originally a 14" x 11" shown above is the cropped version as a 10" x 8". 

oil on canvas panel.

Last year Jessica and I painted at Appleberry Orchard and again this year they graciously let us set up. The trees are heavily laden with apples right now, but I thinned them out.  I kind of think the apples on the ground look better than the ones on the tree. Maybe because I was not afraid to go dark with alizatrin crimson and ultramarine on the apples in the shade. Those in the light are painted with cad red and Naples yellow. 

I started with a burnt sienna and yellow ochre ground applied with Liquin. I then wiped it slightly and painted into this ground. I think this worked because I am painting mostly greens. The yellows I used were yellow ochre and Naples. I mixed the Ochre with Carribean Blue to make most of the greens. I also had Ultramarine blue, cad red light, alizarin, and white. The Naples yellow came in a set so I thought I would try it.

This is how it was painted plein air

 14" x 11" oil on canvas panel.

Summer Pasture

This is a large painting based on a previous study. I reworked it especially with the cattle in front trying to give it depth and scale. This is painted for the upcoming auction in support of the local art center. I asked a few artists what to donate and they suggested that my snow scenes would not be popular after this tough winter. So a nice summer scene it is.

12" x 24" oil on Gessoboard.

Chestnut with White Socks

Sold

I went plein air painting with Carroll on Sunday. On the way over I stopped to take pictures of this beautiful horse near Shimek Forest. 8" x 6" oil on Ampersand panel. to bid at auction

As soon as I got home I started painting this rough in.

All Pose for the Camera

I wiped this a couple of times before I was satisfied with the results. After wiping away one of the distant cattle I had second thoughts. I wish my paintings had Control Z to undo. I am happier with the cow that I moved and painted again. Sometimes if it isn't working you have to bite the bullet and try again. This was one of the hardest things I had to learn, especially after the first time I tried it and it was worse than the original. I ended up ripping the watercolor painting and throwing it away. I have to chalk it up to learning the hard way. You can make it worse but that is just another learning experience. 

6 x 6 oil on panel to bid at auction

Sunlight Through the Trees

This was the demo I did for the painting class yesterday. We had a nice turnout and a lot of fun.

8 x 8 oil on canvas

Snow in the Evergreens

Yesterday was a spring painting, now back to reality. I must admit I photographed this because I am not tough enough to paint plein air in the snow. 

6" x 8" oil on canvas

Thinking of Spring

The cold weather has me yearning for spring. I pulled up this photo that I took last spring. I just wish I could be plein air painting here now.

6" x 8" oil on canvas

Fall at Wilson Lake

This time of year gives me a chance to work on my oranges and yellows. I have painted this same scene in winter.

9 x 12 oil on canvas on masonite panel. to bid

This was painted when the leaves were off the trees. There were a few brown leaves on the deciduous trees. At that point the evergreen's needles were getting that deep brown. A sort of barren landscape before the first snow.

Under the Cedar Trees

This caught my eye because of the reds and browns. Grass does not grow under cedar trees.

8 x 6 oil on canvas panel.

Midwest Landscape no.4

I spent a little more time on this painting.

I used Photoshop to move the cows and the tree on the right to get the composition the way I want it.